Magnet

I just wonder whether this thread should be under a prominent heading/ subsection of its own. It really does seem to be a cause for concern, and as such members asking for advice have to trawl through threads to find opinion and experience already gained.

Any  possibility Trevor? 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

p.s. I would not see this as an anti "update" thread, if the thread is easily accessible without search, since it is then far more likely to encourage owners with positive responses to post their views as well.

Hello Daniel, 

Welcome to the forum, and let's hope someone can source these and help you with sound advice on whether they will fit - all important before you buy! 

I just wonder if there is anyone else in your neck of the woods who might help you out simply on a trial to fit.

I think you are wise to avoid replica wheels, and it sounds you are going about this the right way. The only thing I would add is to ask whether the wheels you are considering ( if indeed they will fit) were available as an alternative fitment to the ones fitted now (from new?). If not - and assuming they do fit- then you should really cover your bum and check this out with your insurers. Some may want to increase the premium, some may not, some may not want to insure the car. Of course, you could take a chance, but a chance it would be Daniel, and you would only find out if you were insured when you try to claim. A bit pessimistic, but better to keep this in mind if and when decide to change.

Good luck with it.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Russ,

When you say warm, does the car still get up to normal operating temperature as quickly as it should, and not exceed normal on the gauge.

We would need to know this before offering meaningful advice. 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Brad. Very sorry to hear of your misfortune - just what you don't want. 

Regarding how this occurred, I would doubt that someone has kicked this, since it is somewhat high for that , and if someone was going to kick the door then I would have thought they would have saved themselves a fair amount of effort and kicked it much further down. 

Are we noticing scratches further down the panel? For so, were these part of the same damage? Now this might sound daft, but possibly a fairly substantial bird (flying type!) flying into it. I recall this sort of damage to the front of an XR2 many years ago and that was a slow moving impact with a blackbird sized bird. Appreciate yours is side on. Possibly someone's no-folding mirror? 

Not sure if any of this helps Brad. 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Mark,

Being Welsh is a bonus!  A warm welcome from further down the road.

Would the Audi convertible be keeping company with a superb A35 etc? If so, now you are thinking! The answer is in Graham's pal.

If I'm right, I should see you about in a couple of months time as the shows start. 

Welcome to the forum.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

I'm looking at the component (engine mounting?) at 7 o'c in the photo. If this is typical of the remaining components underneath then this is surprising for a less than two year old car. Personally, I'd still be looking at a build date for this, so you can do some homework. Purchased at Audi main dealer? 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Kim,

Very sorry to hear of your misfortune, and it's a distressing need for an introduction into the forum. Let's look at this from a back to basics and the cost becomes logical. Autoglass will repair and replace your car glass if it is available, but I doubt whether convertible hood rear screens comes under that heading - probably with most makes. Audi becomes the next port of call, and because it's a request for a likely slow moving part for a 7 year old model, then the price is going to be sky high. Well you told us that, but at least it makes some economic sense, so you now have to look for economic alternatives. 

Impossible to fit a new rear screen into your existing hood? I seriously doubt it's impossible.

Useful contacts would be classic car trimmers - they are used to making bespoke hoods and should be not be frightened off by this. Google searches should give you some contacts, but try approaching local classic car clubs for all important recommendations. We have the old established Jack Smiths down here at Swansea and you should be able to get his number (and recommendations) via. Lotus (I think it is ) forums. If you fail let me know. I know it's a long way from Surrey, but you could have a free weekend in Mumbles on what these boys charge in relation to others! They are seriously cheap in comparison, and I believe they also do work for insurance companies.

Other alternatives will of course include scrap yards who may just have a rear screen from a salvaged one with normally vandalised roof fabric. You could do searches via. Partfinder - I think it is, but there will be others.

This misfortune could work in your favour if they do write it off and you buy the salvage, but be aware that the car's subsequent value will be less and of course, bang goes your NCB despite it being of no fault of yours. Not on, but true.

I hope you are able to sort something out Kim. Let us know how you get on.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello James,

Clifford has a good point, of course. I must put my hand up and confess that I don't wash the underside very often either (quite frequent for the paintwork)  and although our 11 year old, c140K, A3 obviously has some surface rust on non- bodywork underparts, I would say it doesn't seem as severe as your 2 year old car - judging by your limited coverage photos. 

I think it's a great idea to have an independent to look at it in detail in the first place, and I would suggest they take some good quality photos of anything they think excessive for the age. Armed with this, you can then consult with the dealer who did your service, before contacting VAG customer services.

One thing which might be worth checking on ( your independent may assist ) would be to get a build date from the VIN and compare it with the date of first registration. Has this been hanging around in a field before being registered? Others on here might be able to point you in the right direction to obtain this information. 

Just as a matter of interest, did you buy it new? 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello James,

Outer edge corrosion of discs is a fact of life and occurs since water gets thrown outwards off the disc to the disc's outer edge. Once upon a time when I had hair and brake pads contained asbestos, you would find that discs lasted far longer before this characteristic became as severe as it does now, and the discs lasted far longer. Now, it is not uncommon to have to change discs at the same intervals as changing pads. What you will find is that the more the disc thickness wears away, then obviously the greater the rate of corrosion on the non- wearing outer edge. Since the dealer is not telling you that the discs are nearing their minimum thickness, then I feel there isn't anything too serious to worry about, and I would have thought that Audi would not entertain any claim on this.

Now what does concern me on a barely 2 year old car, is the amount if corrosion on the centre (hub) section of the disc and equally important the section - cross beam? - we see in the bottom left of the photo. If this was my vehicle, I would want to see this up on a ramp and inspect the surface rust situation on all underbody components and if appears to be as the sectioin in the photo shows, then I would be requesting Audi to look at this, and treat it before it gets worse. 

Hope this is of some help.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

I'm of the same opinion as Bradley and Darren on this, but the only thing I would  add is that if you buy a high mileage vehicle you must buy it on condition and price. Both are important, since a high mileage (even full service history) poorly looked after car will be very undesirable when you come to resell it. Equally a nice condition high mileage car must be bought cheap - as Darren has- since again when you have to resell it, the only thing that will attract will be the price you sell it at compared with the price of an average mileage example. 

My last bit of advice would be never to fall in love with it before you buy it!  This has the potential for serious health implications on your wallet! 

Love it only after you have bought it and used it.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

I'm trying to look at this from Darren and Clifford's points of view, and I have no doubt at all that pumping Mr. Muscle into the vanes of the turbo will indeed clean them. After all, this is a caustic type cleaner which will most certainly take the skin off your hands! -as well as the burnt grease from your oven, so it should take soot off the turbo vanes without any doubt. 

Now back to Clifford's point that he would not encourage its use, is based on good argument, since this going to get into your engine, and under extreme pressure. Most of the components of the engine through which air passes and gets combusted when it mixes with fuel are constructed of aluminium, and probably (don't have a Mr. Muscle to hand) Mr. Muscle would state it should not be used on such material. I can indeed imaging the pleasure in watching all that soot coming out of the exhaust following this, but then the realisation that this fluid has passed through every combustion component and found its way out through the catalytic converter for an encor. Pleasure? - or blinking heck? 

Probanly, the answer is to remove the turbo and clean the vanes and refit, but of course this entails far more work, and is far less of a quickie fix. 

Just an observation.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Mei,

I would guess the emphasis on your complaint is not not being able to get a replacement screw from another source as Trevor suggests, but the fact that if you choose to get it from Audi, then they force you to buy associated bits which you don't want - and that is a fair point. The hard fact is that car manufacturers supply spare parts and have to stock these parts pending a request from someone. They also have to have an individual part number for every sub part and yes, I agree it would be great if every nut, bolt, washer, screw, fastener was available as a separate item. However, the system to indentify each of these would simply result in it being uneconomical for them to stock the part - so part unavailable! 

I applaud your attempts, but I fear you aren't going to get anywhere with this, and you just as well wander down to your local hardware store and buy one, and take satisfaction from supporting a local business. 

I am not pro Audi with this - having the same issues with a broken centre arm rest clip on an A3. You've guessed it - you have to buy the arm rest top! Still nice cars though.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Alan,

The Q7 appears to be respected as a towing vehicle, and personally I would not have considered it would be necessary to upgrade the cooling system, since such things are usually taken into consideration when these vehicles are designed. 

If it were me, I would be visiting the local Audi dealers and talking with them about your intentions, and asking them if they would be prepared to put local owners in to touch with you. The acid test with such considerations is to talk with owners who actually use the vehicles in the way you propose to do so.

Good luck with your search.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Stuart,

Not sure how long you have owned this and what you know of its previous service and repair history. Also whether this writing ( and we would need to know whether this is say handwritten in paint or embossed, or something else) has simply been added to identify which type of vehicle the parts may have come off - i.e. secondhand and interchangeable with your originals. 

Of course, this could be barking up completely wrong trees,  but you would be able to advise us on that possibility. 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Rich,

Welcome to the forum from the homeland.

Hopefully someone wil be able to give you specific information on this, but I would ask two questions:- did the demonstrator behave the same under test? - and have you tried another example of the same engined model? 

I just wonder if this particular car has been subjected to the dreaded emissions adjustment, and perhaps the demonstrator hadn't been tinkered with. 

Option to resolve this in the mind would be to go to another Audi dealer and test drive their car (leaving yours conveniently out of sight!), but the bottom line is it does not appear to be driving as it should, and they need to sort for you.

Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Adie,

I don't think I am going to be of much use to you with knowledge of this particular model, but generally fronts are less complicated than rears if the rears have electric hand brakes.

What I would say is to buy wisely as far as the parts are concerned, and in this respect my first port of call would be main dealer parts at a dealer who would give you a discount - they are about. Of course, you can buy some aftermarket pads and discs much cheaper, but will they give you the braking efficiency and service life of the genuine VAG parts? Generally no, in my experience if you buy on price. If you have to buy aftermarket then it may be worth considering  EBC or Brembo (perhaps only?) 

Regarding whipping it around to Kwik Fit - it is possible that they may order the parts from the local motor factors on a best- buy basis, so I would be careful there, and indeed at any garage. I would be further aware that there are brands of pads and discs which were once very much respected, but are now just bought-out brand names.

Not sure how much of this is going to help you Adie, but my advise would be to go for the best parts at the best price.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

Hello Tom,

Welcame to the forum.

I too have tried all the techniques I can find listed and none have worked for me. I might point out that I was trying to recode one of the two original remotes supplied new with the car, and of course have no doubt about its origin. 

I have resigned myself to having to get this recoded at a main dealer if I want it to lock and unlock remotely, but I haven't done so up till now. 

Incidentally, does anyone know of a good independent near to Cardiff? 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Tj,

Have you tried the car on a slight gradient with the selector in Drive and the handbrake and footbrake off? It should simply hold itself there and move off freely when the accelerator is applied.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Appreciating Darren's sound advice and economics, but what Paul's £55 will buy him is advice as well as a good interpretation of the problem, and it might be worth considering the benefits of this "extra" expense of £55 minus the cost of the code reader.

I mention this, since as I understand it, Paul has very limited use of his hands, and it's pretty dam difficult to do anything without them, and he will depend upon assistance of some kind.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Tj,

Certainly in agreement with Tevor and Bradley. All I would add is that it's not what could be termed good practice to leave the car in Drive - at say lights- and holding its progress by applying the footbrake. It loads the torque converter. I know many people do, including me when I forget! , but best to put it in neutral, then into Drive only when you want to move off.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Paul,

Sorry to hear about your plight, but keeping this simple and respecting your shortage of funds, and your incapacity at the moment, is it worth just driving this car within its current no-issue capabilities? i.e. Driving it below 80mph. Hopefully driving it sedately might not do it much harm, and allow your situation to improve.

Now I certainly don't want to cast doubt on your or Trevor's diagnosis of turbo issues, but if it were mine, I think I would be inclined to buy £55 worth of diagnostic assessment from your independent and take their advice and experience. It could well be turbo issues, but you are not going to be very pleased to have spent your hard earned on turbo work, only to find it was something else. Think about the worth of £55 spent at the specialists, since it is very difficult to self diagnose even when you have the car to hand, and even more difficult for anyone trying to do it at a distance from described symptoms. 

Appreciating this is just another opinion, but it might just concentrate the mind on the alternatives. If it turns out to be the turbo, then I'm sure your independent will have good contacts, possibly saving you the £55 off your final bill.

Good luck with whatever you decide Paul,

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Thanks James, it makes sense.

Black smoke can be a number of things from the EGR valve (blanked in your case so not that) through to injectors and the simplest of all - air filter issues. In effect, you are injecting too much diesel in relation to the volume of air intake. 

Now it seems you have possibly improved the diesel flow via. a new fuel filter, but how about the air flow via. a new air filter? If it were mine, I would go for the simple option and change it anyway, on the basis that it sets the base line for when to change it again.

What make fuel filter did you fit as a matter of interest, and what make air filter are you going to use if you are going to change it? 

Let's hope this will solve it, but if not, you might just be into getting the injectors bench tested, so fingers crossed. Change the air filter and follow Bradley's advice of giving it an Italian Tune, mind it doesn't sound as if it needs it, by your reference to flooring it! I'm set In my ways, but flooring it is a bit like waking you up in the morning, and getting you to run a marathon! OK James, only joking and perhaps enjoy it when you can, because your driving will end up with enjoyment in pace-with-grace. 

Let us know how you get on.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

p.s. Can someone enlighten us on VAG's service intervals for fuel filters on diesel engines? 

Well done Bradley. I like the reply.

This car has cable brakes, but it's "advanced" and has brakes on all four wheels, and not just two, would you believe! No hydraulics here, and certainly no ABS and above all no fault codes! Great. Driving it is a combination of forward thought, evasion and good luck.

Maintenance is just that, and consists of strip and repair, rather than bolt-off-bolt-on replacement, which to a large extent is far easier than depending on codes to indentify faults, which can turn out to be "affect" codes rather than "cause" codes, which can adversely affect the wallet! Whatever, it's all turns out to be useful experience in the end.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

p.s. Apologies Bradley, since I owe you a reply. Will get around to it later, after hedging duties, and sorting out an aging VW T2 camper. Don't retire! It's just more work without pay! 

Hello James,

Glad your issue is sort of fixed. You don't tell us whether your car is petrol or diesel - it would be a help to know- although I am suspecting diesel. As far as I can gather Audi do not, or at latest did not, have a specified mileage/time recommendation for changing fuel filters on their petrol cars. Things may have changed in very recent times, and I would be surprised if this ever applied to Diesel engined cars. However,  I would agree with Bradley when he says a fuel filter change was reasonably overdue, but it may be useful to know that the family owned from new petrol A3 did not see a fuel filter change until 100K with no ill effects. Not overlooked, but assumed it had been changed during the main dealer-only servicing. Not so!

Surely VAG must have an interval for diesels - we hope. Back to petrol and fuel filter changes, we had a Volvo C70 2 litre convertible a few years back and that was the most lethargic vehicle ever owned. Armchair comfort - and performance!. Again full main dealer service history and only 58k miles at the time. Changed the fiuel filter as a policy change and it actually noticeable picked its skirt up a bit, not much but very noticeable. This was the only experience until then of a fuel filter actually affecting performance - apart from yours. 

Let us know whether yours is petrol or diesel James.

Kind regards

Gareth.

Well Trevor, age is what you are lucky enough to make if it. Suffice it to say the oldest car I have ( and that one has been with me for 37 years) is a bit older than me! It still goes, and stops,  when you remember to sent it a postcard. Now Bradley is going to ask what a postcard is, bless him! 

Indeed, there does seem to be a good mix of contributions on here, and unfortunately as Brad says, I don't do concise very well! Still, it's a contribution, and we should congratulate those reading mine to the end! 

From my side, I would welcome more information in the initial question, since very often, the answer is in the detail of the question. 

The debate I have now is whether it's worth me investing in a 5 year guarantee battery for one of the cars, on the basis of whether a 3 year would do me - if you see what it mean! 

Kind regards,

Gareth.